President's Day Cup St. George Utah Feb 2010

Morgan had a soccer tournament in St. George this last weekend. We had an amazing time. Morgan played her heart out. I love seeing her out on the field doing her best! She is fun to watch. She took down a girl that was literally twice her size! She if fiesty, competitive, and her expressions usually say it all. And she has her game face down to perfection. But what I love the most, when the game is over, wether the team has a win or a loss Morgan has played for the love of the game and she is possitive no matter the outcome. I hope as she continues in soccer she keeps the same attitude. We always tell her it's not about winning, it's about how you played the game that counts.

And of course you can't take a trip and do nothing but soccer so we went to Zions' Canyon and hiked the emerald pools. They were fun but it was a very muddy trail at times. We fished in the Virgin River. We also played on the Dixie Red Rocks, and no trip to St. George would be complete with out eating at our favorite places: Paula's, Jimmie Johns (my favorite), and Nielsen's Frozen custard.

We had a great trip!!!! There is nothing better than family fun and sunshine! :)

Wow!

Wow, I can not believe that it has been over six months since I last posted to the Blog. For my one reader, Callee I am so sorry I left you hanging in suspense that long. (smile) Alot has happened since my last post! But, I can not remember all of it so, here are the parts I can remember. The New school year brought about a lot of new changes for the kids. They are now attending Excelsior Academy. This is a new charter school here in Tooele. We love it! I wasn't sure if pioneering the charter school was going to be for us, but we took a chance and are really glad that we did. There is so much that I love about the charter school. Micah has some incredible teachers. And for the first time she has really been challenged. Morgan, she doesn't love school, but she is doing very well academically, and she is so cute in her uniform! Thaddeus, well let's just say we are glad he goes to school! He is excellent at academics, but feels like his teacher talks too much during the day. He appreciates the social aspect of school more than learning. (smile) Morgan tried out for the Olympic development team for soccer. She did a great job, but didn't make the team. It was a good experience for her. She'll try again next year and her Mom won't jinx her by saying she hopes she won't make the team. Her mom is awful. But in reality the time and schedule would have been a lot to handle. I have a whole year to work up to it and I will be ready for it next time. Morgan's team took First Place in our region in soccer. Way to go Morgan! Morgan is developing into an amazing player and we look forward to watching her play. Morgan will be our extreme sports enthusiast. She got a rip stick for Christmas and she loves it! Santa bought a helmet and pads to go with it. Morgan has only had one fracture in the last 6 months. Morgan is now learning how to play the violin. Thaddeus has started Karate and he loves it! We have to continually remind him that although he says he is practicing, there is a no Karate on the sisters rule! Thaddeus has ruined 3 school uniforms since the beginning of the school year. We threatened to ban him from recess if he couldn't quit rolling in the mud and ripping his pants. Micah is in basketball camp! She is working hard and wants to try out for the Highschool team next year. Micah went to her first formal dance. They had a Christmas Ball at school. She was so beautiful all dressed up! And she loved learning how to ballroom dance. Micah had her tonsils out over Halloween. Micah is learning how to play the cello. Mike and the kids were able to do alot of hiking this summer and they loved it. The biggest hike this summer was Deseret Peak. Mike taught us all how to fish. Micah and myself went to Girls Camp, Micah for the first time! I wish we could say we loved it, but we are just writing it off as an accomplishment, we are glad we lived through it. We had an amazing last six months, and this was just highlights. Of course with the new year always comes new promises. And I promise to try to keep up the blog! Because catching up 6 months is impossible!

Vacation

We took our family vacation in early June. We started out in Provo, and I know some of you are laughing but we had a lot of fun. We were surprised to see Aunt Sherry at the campground. Aunt Sherry was my Mom's very best friend in highschool. I have the best memories of spending time with Aunt Sherry and Uncle Kully. And it was amazing to see them. It was very ironic because I had recently felt so lonely with out my Mom and Dad and seeing Aunt Sherry really made me happy! We hiked Timpanogas Cave (55 minutes up, not bad). We were able to go to the Stihl Lumber Jack competition again, always a favorite activity of ours. And we ended up spending an additional day and cutting out one stop on our trip to spend more time with Aunt Sherry. We rode our bikes 10 miles on the Provo River Bike Trail. And of course we had to get our first scorching sunburn of the summer hanging out at the pool for 3 hours. After Provo we headed to Bryce Canyon! AMAZING is the best word I can find to describe it. We hiked for 3 days and did several trails. The 3rd day was the furthest that we hiked. We did 3 trails that day including Bryce Point one of the harder trails in Bryce. The kids were awesome hikers. After Bryce Canyon we went to Cedar City for Summer Games. Opening ceremony was a lot of fun. And the firework show was spectacular! I would go every year just to see the fireworks. And of course seeing Morgan march in with her team was so much fun. Morgan played 4 games in two days. She was awesome! And of course the hit of the game. Everyone always commented on Morgan, the coach of the 16 yr old boys team tried to trade a player for Morgan. She is amazing at soccer and she has worked really hard to develop her skills. She really enjoys playing. We braided her hair in over 30 small braids (It took forever). We had such a great time! And I would love to share photos with you but......... we didn't have a camera so we bought the disposable camera's and I haven't had time to get them developed yet. I will post more pictures when I can but until then here are just a couple that we had. We are really blessed to be able to spend time together as a family. We are so lucky that we have a trailer and that it makes traveling a little more affordable. (atleast until gas hits 4 dollars a gallon again). I am very grateful for the amazing family that I have.

Grandma Lizzies House

Check out this blog. http://grandmalizzieshouse.com/2009 Grandma Lizzies house has darling ideas for projects with your kids. And this month she is doing a give away for sharing thoughts about your Mom. It was fun to read all the comments. And the odds of winning are probably better here than in vegas. Liz is an amazing mom and Grandma. She is very talented, patient and kind. I know this because she never yelled at me when I made Callee skip school. Although she did always strongly encourage us to attend our classes. As I reflect on Mother's Day and remember all those who have touched my life I am grateful for Liz. And as you will read in your blog she truly always has made sure that she goes out of her way to make others happy and feel apart of anything that she is doing. Pass Grandma lizzies blog onto anyone you think would enjoy these great ideas for kids projects. Have fun!

"Glam"ping...........

I had to still the term "glam"ping from a friend of mine. I believe the interpretation is glamour camping. Everyone makes fun of me because camping to me is going to the Canyons resort in Park City. It has a nice mountain setting and fresh air while on the balcony. And you can always start a fire in the fireplace. Now what's wrong with that? Well apparently my family doesn't share my same views of camping. So we compromised. For Christmas this year we were able to get a 5th wheel trailer. This weekend was the first opportunity we had to take it out and try it. Friday night on our way home from soccer at 9:45 p.m. 15 min. before the storage lot closed we grabbed the trailer and took it home and started getting ready to go. Saturday morning I had opening ceremonies for baseball so the plan was to leave right after that. We were just going to take a small road trip and go here in Tooele because it was close and free. But as we headed up to the campsite we realized it was still closed for winter. So we headed to Wasatch State Park in midway. It was awesome!!!! Although it rained all day saturday and snowed sunday morning it was still nice to get away. We were able to just hang out play games and watch it snow. Morgan and Thaddeus both thought they would catch a skunk. I assured them if they even tried I was going to leave them in the mountains. So they settled for worms, bugs, squirrels. The kids were great to help pack and unpack. I expect that to wear off fairly quickly. But it was a great trial run. We are looking forward to Memorial Day weekend, 0ur next scheduled camping trip!

Take me out to the ball game..........

Wow it is that time again. Outdoor soccer is well under way and T Ball season just started. Any given day you will find us hanging at the ball park. Wether it is for T Ball or Soccer we love them both!!! This time of year get's very crazy and leaves little time for updating blogs but I will try my best to keep up. I am coaching the Giants this year. We just had opening ceremonies and it rained the whole time but, it was still worth it. There is something amazing about being at the ball park and hearing the National Anthem. Morgan's team is doing very well and we have 5 tournaments this summer. So there should be plenty of pictures to post. Morgan plays both defender and midfield. She is an amazing runner. I love to hear the comments on the side lines when morgan runs down field. Last friday night we had a game and we noticed Morgan having a shoving match out on the field. Later Morgan reported the girl on the other team told her she was too short so Morgan replied with "maybe your too big" and then they started shoving each other. As a parent I realize I shouldn't condone that but I was proud!!! Mike and I both sat on the sidelines looking to see who was coming out on top. Morgan won!! She really gave the big girl a work out. And she got the ball around her and ran off giving her this little stare of see I am not too small. I know call me a bad mom but It was cool to see Morgan becoming a little more aggressive and defend herself. She is small but I pitty the fool who under estimates the attitude wrapped up in her small little body. Thaddeus loves to play T Ball. He is a great hitter and likes to announce to his team that he rocks at T Ball. Well he doesn't lack confindence.

Date night

So I am sure everyone has the same experience with date night....... it never happens!!! It's hard to find time in our busy schedules to get a night out. We usually call date night a late night trip to Wal-mart and a stop at maverick for the beloved diet coke. But last weekend we had an awards banquet for work so it forced us to take a night out. I complained all week long about having to find a dress. (I am on my 3rd year of looking for a dress for this particular night, if I shopped more than I complained I would probably find one) I waited till Friday to actually attempt to find one. Thank goodness for friends I had 2 that offered me a dress. Mike wore his dress blues. And for all the complaining I do, I actually enjoy the one night a year that I put on a dress and go out with Mike. After I get a little photo shop and cropping I think this will be one of my favorite pictures of Mike and I.